Concealed Carry | What You Need to Know

What does a concealed carry class consist of?

A North Carolina concealed carry class covers required information North Carolina residents need in order to carry a concealed firearm. Topics include: (1) basic firearm operation and safety, (2) laws detailing when you are allowed to carry a concealed firearm, and (3) laws outlining when you can use your firearm for self defense. Though curriculums vary from instructor to instructor, in order for the class to comply with State law, the class must be a minimum of eight hours long, with a minimum of two hours devoted to the legal portion of the class. Students must successfully complete a legal examination and shooting proficiency test in order to receive a certificate of completion. The certificate is part of the Concealed Carry Permit application with the sheriff of your resident county. 

The first part of the course typically provides an overview of firearm safety. Students will learn the fundamental safety rules of firearm operation, firearm parts and mechanisms, and a review of how a firearm functions. Students should select a course that provides the level of firearms training and practice consistent with their needs since all courses are only required to review fundamentals. Fundamentals include  stance, sight alignment and sight picture, loading and unloading of the magazine, grip, and trigger. However, the degree of actual instruction will vary greatly. Most courses provide little to no actual instruction on the range.

The second portion of the concealed carry permit class

In the second part of the course, students will learn about the laws and regulations governing use of deadly force, including:

• The major principles of justified self-defense or “perfect self-defense.”
• The difference between justified self-defense and imperfect self-defense.
• Meaning of imminent threat, excessive force, and escalation of force.
• Situations in which “duty to retreat” applies.
• In which situations deadly force can be used and cannot be used. Instructors will explain the legality of deadly force in cases of sexual assault, simple assault, tresspassing, use of violent language, arresting a criminal or preventing a criminal’s escape, protection of property, and defense of others.
• North Carolina statutory law, including the Castle Doctrine.
• Locations in which carrying concealed is legally prohibited (i.e., schools, state properties and courthouses, federal properties, private businesses that explicitly prohibit concealed carry, ect.)
• Concealment definition and what to do if approached by a law enforcement officer.
• Laws related to gun storage in the presence of minors.¹

All students must successfully complete a shooting proficiency test. Students will undergo a course of fire with a minimum of 30 rounds of ammunition. Ten rounds each will be fired from the three-yard line, five-yard line, and seven-yard line. At least 21 of these rounds must hit the target and fall inside the indicated target rings.²

After a student successfully passes the shooting portion of the examination, students will also need to pass a brief written examination. The Concealed Carry Handgun Legal Examination, approximately 20 questions, will test students’ knowledge and understanding of laws surrounding deadly force and concealed carry requirements.¹

Where can I take a concealed carry permit class in Raleigh, NC?

OnPoint Range, Raleigh’s premier shooting range, offers best-in-class concealed carry education for our customers. At OnPoint Range, our professional instructors teach the most comprehensive curriculum available in the State. Over the course of a weekend, students in our class will spend up to eight hours on the range shooting hundreds of rounds with a maximum of a 4:1 student:instructor ratio.

Topics covered in the concealed carry permit class

In addition to traditional topics covered in most concealed carry classes, at OnPoint Range, you will learn skills crucial to carrying concealed, including drawing from the holster, malfunction clearance, and how to handle different types of magazine reloading and shooting sequences. Students can also practice in shoot/no shoot and force-on-force scenarios with our professional role players using the same training equipment as the top law enforcement agencies in the country. Some might say that our two-day course exceeds the standards set by the state for concealed carry courses. We prefer to say that others teach concealed carry, we teach concealed carry done right.

After passing the CCH course, students can continue through the OnPoint Range learning pathway by taking our Every Day Carry 1 course, where students will learn more advanced concealed carry skills including drawing from inside the waistband, shooting with lights, shooting on the move, around barricades and in different positions.

What happens after I pass the concealed carry permit class?

After a student successfully passes the shooting and written examinations, students will receive a uniquely numbered certificate of completion that is necessary to  apply for a concealed carry handgun permit at the sheriff’s office within their county of residence. To earn a concealed carry handgun permit, the applicant must be 21 years of age or older, and a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident of the U.S. As part of the application process, applicants will undergo a detailed background check and fingerprinting and must sign a release of mental health records. Applicants must provide the original certificate of completion issued by a concealed carry handgun training course approved by the N.C. Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission. Instructors of the concealed carry course must be certified by the Commission as a concealed carry handgun instructor.

Applications are available online or at your local sheriff’s office website. Applicants will schedule an appointment at the sheriff’s office. At the appointment,  applicants will need to provide identification (i.e., driver’s license) and the original certification of completion from the concealed carry class. Fingerprinting will also be conducted at this appointment.

Sources

¹ North Carolina Justice Academy. (2022). Concealed Carry Handgun Training (VII). https://www.ncdoj.gov/ncja/

² North Carolina Concealed Carry Handgun Network. (n.d.). https://nc-cch.com/index.php?cid=26-11

³ Eimer, B. N., PhD. (2019, August 28). 10 Tips for Choosing a Concealed Carry Handgun. Gun Digest. https://gundigest.com/article/10-tips-for-choosing-a-concealed-carry-handgun